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**Fiesialenp** · 08-12-2012, 06:59 PM

Conjecture>>>Speculation>>>Science>>>Technology>>> Application.
If you could control gravity or inertial forces, you would have a propulsion breakthrough (thrusting without rockets), a means to create synthetic gravity environments for space crews, a means to create zero-gravity environment on Earth - hey that could be fun - and a whole host of other things. Like "Warp Drives", this subject is also at the level of speculation, with some facets edging into the realm of science. We are at the point where we know what we do know and know what we don’t ... new theories from quantum mechanics that link gravity and inertia to something called "vacuum fluctuations."

Is this subject being studied?

The grand visions of yesterday’s science fiction inspired today’s reality. Maybe the same will happen with today’s science fiction.

A long time ago, Jules Verne wrote a story about sending people to the moon by blasting them out of a giant cannon. That story inspired a whole host of rocketry pioneers who pondered how to make such a journey a reality. Based on the science of their day, they were eventually able to create visions of how to achieve such a feat As an old-school scientist, I like to rate my impossibilities in the following way:

Level 1. Politically impossible - eg. powering rockets using whale oil, using a nuclear explosion to launch a satellite.
Level 2. Financially impossible - eg. sending a living human colony to the stars.
Level 3. Technically impossible - eg. Bussard ramscoop, travel at high relativistic speeds, antimatter drive.
Level 4. Physically impossible - eg. artificial gravity, nullification of inertia, faster than light humans, wormhole travel, teleport.

I prefer to stick to Levels 1 and 2, though I do occasionally check the feasibility of a Level 3. Level 4 is worth avoiding entirely.

Also, level 4 is unnecessary. Anything that can be done with Level 4 can also be done with Level 3, it just takes a bit longer.

Jules Verne's story from the Earth to the Moon, even at the time it was written, was merely financially impossible. Even then it was technically possible. H.G. Wells story of the Invisible Man, on the other hand, was then as now physically impossible.

08-12-2012, 06:59 PM	#38
Fiesialenp Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 644 Senior Member	Conjecture>>>Speculation>>>Science>>>Technology>>> Application. If you could control gravity or inertial forces, you would have a propulsion breakthrough (thrusting without rockets), a means to create synthetic gravity environments for space crews, a means to create zero-gravity environment on Earth - hey that could be fun - and a whole host of other things. Like "Warp Drives", this subject is also at the level of speculation, with some facets edging into the realm of science. We are at the point where we know what we do know and know what we don’t ... new theories from quantum mechanics that link gravity and inertia to something called "vacuum fluctuations." Is this subject being studied? The grand visions of yesterday’s science fiction inspired today’s reality. Maybe the same will happen with today’s science fiction. A long time ago, Jules Verne wrote a story about sending people to the moon by blasting them out of a giant cannon. That story inspired a whole host of rocketry pioneers who pondered how to make such a journey a reality. Based on the science of their day, they were eventually able to create visions of how to achieve such a feat As an old-school scientist, I like to rate my impossibilities in the following way: Level 1. Politically impossible - eg. powering rockets using whale oil, using a nuclear explosion to launch a satellite. Level 2. Financially impossible - eg. sending a living human colony to the stars. Level 3. Technically impossible - eg. Bussard ramscoop, travel at high relativistic speeds, antimatter drive. Level 4. Physically impossible - eg. artificial gravity, nullification of inertia, faster than light humans, wormhole travel, teleport. I prefer to stick to Levels 1 and 2, though I do occasionally check the feasibility of a Level 3. Level 4 is worth avoiding entirely. Also, level 4 is unnecessary. Anything that can be done with Level 4 can also be done with Level 3, it just takes a bit longer. Jules Verne's story from the Earth to the Moon, even at the time it was written, was merely financially impossible. Even then it was technically possible. H.G. Wells story of the Invisible Man, on the other hand, was then as now physically impossible.
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